It was Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez’s first bowl appearance as the Wolverine head coach and ironically enough it may have been his last.
Rodriguez with now three full seasons under his belt at Michigan has gone 15-22 overall and 6-18 in the Big Ten with the only one bowl appearance. He has been under tremendous scrutiny due to his poor record and the slow progression of the team and like fans are aware of, his job security has been the hot top leading up to Michigan’s bowl game.
Now did the questions surrounding his job affect Rodriguez in any way? Michigan defensive tackle Mike Martin believes it did…
“He’s human, he’s a man, a constant stress is going to wear you down,” Martin said.
And asked whether or not He (Rodriguez) would be back with Michigan next season, he simply replied with you’re asking the wrong person.
Now the coach widely rumored to be heading to Ann Arbor to take over for Rodriguez next season is former Michigan QB and current Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Harbaugh, who coached his Stanford team to a Orange Bowl berth this season against Virginia Tech has been quiet about his future beyond this season.
Reports surfaced about a month ago that there was a contract extension and salary raise on the table from Stanford in which the Stanford AD said that Harbaugh already agreed to, however nothing has been confirmed not denied out of the Harbaugh camp. Then earlier this week, after the firing of Mike Singletary it was believed that the San Francisco 49ers were going to make a strong push for Harbaugh. This came after ProFootballTalk.com’s Gregg Rosenthal wrote that multiple sources were saying that the 49ers were going to promote Trent Baalke in hopes that he could deliver Harbaugh to San Francisco.
ProFootballTalk.com also mentioned that ESPN’s John Clayton believes that the 49ers chose to fire Singletary with one game 
ESPN analyst and UM graduate Adam Schefter expects Harbaugh to be the next head coach of the Wolverines. According to a report out of the Detroit Free Press, Schefter said that the general believe around the league is that Harbaugh is more interested in taking the Michigan job rather than going to San Francisco.
Speaking about the Niners’ vacancy today, Schefter said, “They’d love Jim Harbaugh from Stanford. My understanding is that it’s going to be very difficult for them to get him, and I don’t think he’ll wind up there. The sense is that Jim Harbaugh will wind up at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, coaching the Maize and Blue.
“Again, this is the buzz around the league. This is what people, smart people think is going to happen. That’s the sense of people that I know and trust and respect, that Harbaugh will not go to the Niners, that he will go to Michigan, and it’ll be up to another NFL job to see if it could entice him and prevent him from going to a place like Michigan.
“But the one thing I feel certain about, Jim Harbaugh is going to leave Stanford.”
Michigan is widely believed to be Harbaugh’s dream job. However, the wild card in all of this is the NFL money that could be waiting for Harbaugh in San Francisco, not to mention the proximity to his family in California. Even with the San Francisco interest, not to mention the other vacant coaching jobs in the NFL, it is my belief that Harbaugh will be announced as the new head coach of the Michigan Wolverines on January 4th or 5th.
Now do I have any inside information on the situation?
The answer to that is no, and neither does anyone else besides Harbaugh himself. Any and all news about Harbaugh and his future is purely speculation.
My reasons for Harbaugh to Michigan though are simple, the NFL will always be there for him if he decides to take that on later in his career. Michigan is a school that can offer him big money, a big program and all the prestige that comes with a big program. At the college level, and especially in Michigan which is thriving to be a winner again, he could become legendary. If he’s successful at Michigan he can obtain the status much like that of Tom Izzo at Michigan State. In other words, he could be the King of Ann Arbor.
Again, all speculation.
Now the other news coming out today after Michigan’s loss in the Gator Bowl was what would Denard Robinson do next season if Rich Rodriguez is not the coach.
“No response,” Robinson said.
“But the one thing I feel certain about, Jim Harbaugh is going to leave Stanford.”
Michigan is widely believed to be Harbaugh’s dream job. However, the wild card in all of this is the NFL money that could be waiting for Harbaugh in San Francisco, not to mention the proximity to his family in California. Even with the San Francisco interest, not to mention the other vacant coaching jobs in the NFL, it is my belief that Harbaugh will be announced as the new head coach of the Michigan Wolverines on January 4th or 5th.
Now do I have any inside information on the situation?
The answer to that is no, and neither does anyone else besides Harbaugh himself. Any and all news about Harbaugh and his future is purely speculation.
My reasons for Harbaugh to Michigan though are simple, the NFL will always be there for him if he decides to take that on later in his career. Michigan is a school that can offer him big money, a big program and all the prestige that comes with a big program. At the college level, and especially in Michigan which is thriving to be a winner again, he could become legendary. If he’s successful at Michigan he can obtain the status much like that of Tom Izzo at Michigan State. In other words, he could be the King of Ann Arbor.
Again, all speculation.
Now the other news coming out today after Michigan’s loss in the Gator Bowl was what would Denard Robinson do next season if Rich Rodriguez is not the coach.
“No response,” Robinson said.
“That’s my coach, that’s who recruited me,” Robinson said. “That’s it.”
Robinson’s silence however seems to say a lot and that is he is guaranteed to be back with the Wolverines if Rich Rodriguez were to lose his job. You would also have to believe too if Harbaugh and his pro style offense were brought in to coach Michigan, Robinson’s position on the team would definitely come into question.
And we have more speculation, but certainly an interesting week ahead for the Michigan football program.
Source: ProFootballTalk.com, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News
